Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I am aware that the department has conducted staff surveys which have indicated that there is strong interest from students in doing an accelerator program. I think it was something like 55 per cent of students who indicated they were interested. Then there is also the feedback from universities. I've talked about this repeatedly. Universities Australia said it supports and applauds the government's initiative for the establishment of a startup year. They also said it was absolutely a value proposition for students in universities. So I think that's a good indication of where the sector sits. Again, the Australian Technology Network said, 'We fundamentally think this is a great program,' and the University of Technology Sydney said in its submission to the inquiry that the bill will 'help the next generation of young Australian entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life' and that it 'commends the government for exploring innovative and long-term solutions to fund and support new startups'.

So there is plenty of evidence that students are interested in this. You only have to attend a university campus and talk to students to hear about the interesting things they're doing but also how optimistic they are about the future and the role they can play in the future. We think this bill will play an important part in that.